biology

South Island piopio

South Island piopio is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand South Island piopio rather than just read about it. In short: The South Island piopio (Turnagra capensis) also known as the New Zealand thrush, is an extinct species of passerine bird of the family Oriolidae. Milford Sound in the South Island of New Zealand is known as Piopiotahi in te reo Māori.

Key takeaways

South Island piopio belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect South Island piopio to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of South Island piopio from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The South Island piopio (Turnagra capensis) also known as the New Zealand thrush, is an extinct species of passerine bird of the family Oriolidae. Milford Sound in the South Island of New Zealand is known as Piopiotahi in te reo Māori.

Taxonomy and systematics

The South Island piopio was originally described in the genus Tanagra (a synonym for Tangara) and subsequently classified by some authorities in the genus Turdus. For a long time the South Island piopio was considered conspecific with the North Island piopio that dwelt in New Zealand's North Island as the piopio, but later they were recognised as two distinct species due to pronounced differences in external appearance and osteology (Olson et al., 1983). Based on their smaller size, the description of the Stephens Island piopio was sometimes thought to be based on juvenile birds, but is now considered to be valid (Medway, 2004b). The assumption of a well-flying bird evolving into a distinct subspecies on the small (2.6 km2) island close (3.2 km) to the mainland seems hard to believe, but Stephens Island must have held a population of many hundred birds in 1894 (Medway, 2004a), and the piopio was apparently a reluctant flyer, not usually being found on offshore islands.

Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized:

†T. c. capensis - (Sparrman, 1787): Formerly found in the South Island (of New Zealand) Stephens Island piopio (†T. c. minor) - Fleming, JH, 1915: Formerly found on Stephens Island (New Zealand)

Description This medium-sized bird was mostly olive-brown in colouration, with rufous wings and tail, and a speckled breast. The Stephens Island piopio was much smaller than the nominate race. The South Island piopio was considered to be one of the best song birds native to New Zealand.

Behaviour and ecology South Island piopios were omnivorous, and relatively unafraid of humans, as they have been recorded as taking scraps of food from campers. Lice of the genus Brueelia were found on the South Island piopio (Palma, 1999).

Status The South Island piopio was once considered common in undergrowth forests of New Zealand's South Island, until 1863 when the population began to decline. The piopio continued to decline rapidly throughout the 1880s, mainly due to predation by cats and rats introduced to the island by humans, and some habitat destruction. By 1888 the bird was said to be the rarest in all of New Zealand, and by 1905 it was considered virtually extinct. The last confirmed specimen was shot at Oharu in 1902, although alleged sightings continued. For example, unconfirmed South Island piopio records exist from near Pātea in 1923, between Gisborne and Wairoa on 7 May 1947, in Nelson district, January 1948 (all in Allison et al., 1949), and on 17 December 1947, at Lake Hauroko (Dunckley & Todd, 1949). The last possible sighting was in 1963.

Stephens Island subspecies The Stephens Island population became extinct, apparently in 1897, due to predation by feral cats which had multiplied to number in the hundreds by that time (see also Lyall's wren for a detailed chronology). The last specimen was taken on 7 January 1897, and there were none left by the end of 1898 (Medway, 2004a). Only 12 specimens of the Stephens Island bird exist today:

Staatliches Museum Dresden 16657, 16658, 16659, 16660, 16661; five spirit specimens purchased from Walter Buller's collection, received in 1899, Natural History Museum, London 1903.12.10.2.; a female skin purchased from W. F. H. Rosenberg, World Museum Liverpool B.20.12.01-24 (male) and B.20.12.01-24a (female); skins from Buller's collection purchased in 1901, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Fleming collection 3915; a male skin (the type specimen), Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh CM 24753 (male) and CM 24754 (female); skins from Buller's collection (his numbers 194c and 194d) and Übersee-Museum, Bremen 15080; a male skin collected by Hugo H. Schauinsland (the last record). The last three are the only ones with reliable dates, having been taken in 1894, 1895 and 1897, respectively.

Milford Sound/Piopiotahi In te reo Māori, Milford Sound is known as Piopiotahi after the bird. According to the Māori legend of Māui trying to win immortality for mankind, a single piopio flew to the fiord in mourning following Māui's death. The name Piopiotahi refers to this bird, with tahi meaning 'one' in Māori.

References

Allison, J. V. et al. (1949): Classified summarised notes. New Zealand Bird Notes 3(4): 88–106. PDf fulltext Dunckley, J. V. & Todd, E. M. (1949): Birds West of Waiau River. New Zealand Bird Notes 3(6): 163–164. PDF fulltext Fleming, J. H. (1915): A new Turnagra from Stephens' Island, New Zealand. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 28: 121–124. Medway, David G. (2004a): The land bird fauna of Stephens Island, New Zealand in the early 1890s, and the cause of its demise. Notornis 51(4): 201–211. PDF fulltext Medway, David G. (2004b): Taxonomic status of the Stephens Island piopio (Turnagra capensis). Notornis 51(4): 231–232. PDF fulltext Olson, Storrs L.; Parkes, K. C.; Clench, M. H. & Borecky, S. R. (1983): The affinities of the New Zealand passerine genus Turnagra. Notornis 30(4): 319–336. PDF fulltext Palma, Ricardo L. (1999): Amendments and additions to the 1982 list of chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from birds in New Zealand. Notornis 46(3): 373–387. PDF fulltext Sparrman, Anders (1787): [Description of Turnagra capensis] In: Museum Carlsonianum, in quo novas et selectas aves, coloribus ad vivum brevique descriptiones illustratas 2(45), plate 45.

Further reading Johansson, Ulf S.; Pasquet, Eric; Irestedt, Martin (2011). "The New Zealand Thrush: an extinct Oriole". PLOS ONE. 6 (9) e24317. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...624317J. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024317. PMC 3170299. PMID 21931679. Zuccon, Dario; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "Molecular and morphological evidences place the extinct New Zealand endemic Turnagra capensis in the Oriolidae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (1): 414–426. Bibcode:2012MolPE..62..414Z. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.013. PMID 22056604.

External links 3D view of specimens RMNH 110.040, RMNH 110.041, RMNH 110.056, RMNH 110.057, RMNH 110.058 and RMNH 110.059 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin). South Island Piopio. Turnagra capensis by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006 New Zealand ecology: Extinct birds - TerraNature article

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with South Island piopio

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what South Island piopio claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to South Island piopio before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about South Island piopio ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of South Island piopio

In research: South Island piopio appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses South Island piopio in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: South Island piopio is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bird extinctions since 1500, Birds described in 1787, Birds of the South Island, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for South Island piopio outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study South Island piopio in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what South Island piopio means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain South Island piopio out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is South Island piopio in simple terms?

Why does South Island piopio matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study South Island piopio?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on South Island piopio.